Andrew Grice

Andrew Grice has been Political Editor of The Independent since 1998. He was previously Political Editor of The Sunday Times, where he worked for 10 years, and he has been a Westminster-based journalist since 1982. His column, Inside Politics, appears in The Independent each Saturday.

Conservative ministers were accused on Sunday of carrying out a “cull” of women who head public bodies amid a growing controversy over the sacking of the chair of Ofsted, the schools inspectorate.

Labour claimed that the surprise dismissal of Baroness (Sally)
Morgan, a Labour peer, was part of a pattern stemming from the
Tories’ “problem with women”, which resulted in them being ousted
and replaced by men.

The Opposition pointed out that Dame (Liz) Forgan was forced out
as chairman of the Arts Council, where she was replaced by Sir
Peter Bazalgette; Dame (Suzi) Leather was ousted at the Charity
Commission to make way for William Shawcross; and Baroness (Kay)
Andrews was replaced at English Heritage by Sir Laurie Magnus, an
investment banker.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, did not deny reports that
Lady Morgan could be replaced as chair of Ofsted by Theodore Agnew,
a private-equity boss and former Conservative donor.

The move could prove damaging to the Tories among women voters.
The party has 48 women MPs and 256 men, while Labour has 86
women and 169 men. Conservative MP Anne McIntosh was also
de-selected on Friday.

Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “My concern is
that what we have is a cull of senior, authoritative women and they
are all being replaced by men. It is raining men in the
Conservative Party.” She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “It is
not a problem of attracting women. It is a problem… of not firing
them and replacing them with men.”

Mr Gove denied the Tories were anti-women. “We don’t believe in
tokenism. We believe in meritocracy,” he said. He denied Lady
Morgan’s claim that Downing Street had ordered her sacking so that
a Conservative could be installed at Ofsted. He insisted the
decision was his alone because he wanted a “fresh face”. But he
praised Lady Morgan, saying she had done a “fantastic job” at
Ofsted and hoping she might be appointed to another post.

Sir David Bell, the ex-permanent secretary at the Department for
Education and a former chief inspector of schools, said the row had
shown “the importance of retaining, and being seen to retain,
independent voices near the top – not simply ‘yes men’.”

In a blog post , Sir David said Mr
Gove sees his opponents “as a mass of bureaucrats, unions and
academics who eschew rigour for a left-wing, child-centred
progressive agenda”.

Lady Morgan’s sacking, revealed exclusively by The Independent
on Saturday, has provoked a split inside the Coalition. It has
infuriated David Laws, the Liberal Democrat Schools Minister, who
has enjoyed a good working relationship with Mr Gove.

Sir Malcolm Bruce, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said Mr
Gove was “trying to politicise something that should be kept out of
politics”, adding that Mr Laws had not been consulted about Lady
Morgan’s dismissal. “There’s a concern that Sally Morgan is going
to be replaced with someone who is explicitly and ideologically a
Tory to deliver inappropriate politics in what is after all an
operational body of inspection,” he said.

The controversy could overshadow Tory plans to designate this
week their “education week”, starting with a speech by Mr Gove
today. Tory ministers are accusing their Liberal Democrat partners
of exploiting the row for their own purposes.

A Downing Street source said: “We know what they are doing,
trying to differentiate and show relevance. We are just getting on
with running the country.”

Tory man up: Next Ofsted boss?

Theodore Agnew
Theodore Agnew, who has been tipped as a possible
successor to Baroness Morgan as chair of the schools inspectorate
Ofsted, failed his 11-plus, but in Michael Gove’s eyes may now look
well-qualified for the Ofsted post.

He is already a familiar figure at the Department for Education.
He joined its board after the 2010 general election and last year
became chair of its Academies Board, with a brief to ensure rising
standards in academy schools. His Inspiration Trust runs a total of
seven academies and free schools in Norfolk.

The founder of Somerton Capital, he gave £144,000 to the
Conservative Party between 2007 and 09. He also funded Policy
Exchange, a think tank set up by Mr Gove in 2002.

Mr Agnew, whose cleaning firm cleaned brothels in Australia
before he returned to Britain to run an outsourcing business,
developed a passion for education because of his frustration with
numeracy and literacy skills.